Jeanne-Élisabeth CHAUDET née Gabiou (1767-1832)

Jeanne-Élisabeth Gabiou, born in 1765 and who died of cholera in 1832, grew up in a family environment favourable to female creativity.

In 1793 she married her sculpture teacher, Antoine-Denis Chaudet, who greatly encouraged her in her artistic direction. Widowed in 1810, she remarried two years later to a senior finance official. This second marriage did not put a brake on her career, as she exhibited at the Salon until 1817. Childhood was her favourite theme, in which she won over critics and the public alike with the originality of her compositions and their technical qualities.

The purity of her painting of the Little Girl Wanting to Teach Her Dog to Read, but also the mischief and malice of the one depicting Marie-Laetitia Murat Holding the Bust of Napoleon Ist, made her an artist of childhood.

At the beginning of the 19th century, we cannot deny the influence of Greuze on Jeanne-Elisabeth's works. And it is this inspiration, this freshness and this ode to childhood that her admirers will miss when she tries to pursue a more Davidian career.

Our oil on canvas has all the amiable characteristics of Elisabeth Chaudet's key works. The fresh complexion of this charming cupid, ready to pierce a heart with his arrow, is evident even in his innocent yet mischievous expression.

Sources

Notice by Charlotte Fouchet, Jeanne-Elisabeth Gabiou, SIEFAR dictionary, 2008